


All These Stolen Moments

by malechunters



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-06-03 20:48:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6625690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malechunters/pseuds/malechunters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus did not want to live in a new town, or go to a new school. Nor did he want to meet someone like Alec Lightwood. Because that person made him want to actually stay, which he really did not want to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Get Out Of Town!

“Maggy, sweetie, we’re here now. Do you want to wake up?”

Magnus fell out of the car, at his grandmothers feet, his nose bumping against her shoe. She made a confused noise, wondering why her grandson was laying on her foot, but then she bent down to try and help him up. He seemed perfectly happy to be on the floor as he’d fallen back asleep, not even realising where he was. 

Magnus’ grandfather walked around the car, and helped his wife pick up their grandson. Magnus’ mop of black hair was covering his face, and his grandmother moved it out of his eyes, to see that they were still half closed. 

“Have you not been sleeping well, honey?” She asked him, and he shrugged. 

“I’ve had more than usual lately. Three hours a night is the average amount, right?”

His grandmother pursed her lips, but somehow was still able to look concerned. “Well that’s not enough, is it? How about we get you inside, and you can go straight to bed?”

“How about I get back in the car and you take me back home?”

His grandmother did not say another word, as she led him into the house. Though, mentally, Magnus did not want to be there, physically he was, and there wasn’t much that he could do about it. He wasn’t going to argue with his grandparents. 

When he was inside the house- which, though was quite small, was bigger than his house back home- his grandmother let him go upstairs, and into the spare bedroom, which was going to be his. It was plain white, with white sheets and white walls (which reminded Magnus of a hospital), but for now, Magnus wasn’t going to complain. Afterall, there was a bed, and he hadn’t had any proper sleep for over a week. He kicked off his shoes, and climbed under the covers. It was warm, especially with his hoodie still on, but it was a comfortable warm. 

He tried to force his eyes to close, but they wouldn’t. He was too busy staring out the tiny window, opposite the bed. The sky was a light grey outside, and it looked like it was about to rain. He huffed, hugging the pillow close to him. 

Magnus didn’t want to be here. He squeezed his eyes closed, and they thankfully stayed that way, even though he didn’t sleep for all that long. 

His grandmother woke him up in the late evening. He could barely open his eyes for the second time that day. He was tempted to just not get up at all and sleep all the way through the night, but she told him that dinner was on the table which managed to prompt him to move. 

Before he went downstairs, he looked in the mirror in the bathroom. He had dark circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep, and he had spit on the side of his mouth from where he’d dribbled in his sleep. He wiped it away, and then ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. 

He didn’t talk much at dinner, but listened to what his grandparents were saying. They were taking about old people stuff- like flowers, and other old people- but he listened anyway, whilst enjoying the food his grandmother had made. 

“I know your bedrooms a little plain at the moment, dear,” His grandmother said after dinner, as he helped her carry the plates out into the kitchen. “But I want you to know that you can make it your own. Gran’pa will take you to a paint store and you can choose a colour that you want.”

“Gramma, I’m seveteen, I can go to a paint store on my own.”

She chuckled, and then placed the plates down next to the kitchen sink. “Of course you can. Silly old me- I still see you as that excitable little nine year old.”

He half-smiled, and offered to help clean up, but she told him to go get clean and go to bed. “You’ve got a big day ahead of you tomorrow, haven’t you?”

Magnus did consider taking a shower. Actually, he put a lot of thought it in. He stood outside the bathroom door for a few seconds, thinking whether he actually had the effort or want to be clean, but then decided against it. He dropped one bag of his things on his bed, rifled through it, trying to find pyjamas. 

The effort went to waste though, as after less than a minute of looking, he got bored, and even more tired. He shoved the bag off the bed, switched the light off, and then climbed into bed. 

The one thing he hated about sleeping during the day was that he could never get to sleep at night. He continued to stare out of the window, even as the sun completely set, and he heard his grandparents go to sleep. He kept on willing his phone in his coat pocket to start vibrating, to get a text from his friends back home, asking how he was. It wasn’t surprising when it didn’t make any noise, though. He knew none of them really cared that he’d gone. 

Magnus probably would have been upset, if he’d actually liked them. But they were just people to hang out with, and he guessed that that was exactly what they’d thought of him. 

Eventually, he did fall asleep. He woke up a couple of times during the night, and whether that was from the fact that he wasn’t all that tired, or he was nervous about the oncoming day, he could not tell. 

The last day had been such a rush- leaving his home extremely early in the morning, catching a flight to the nearest airport to his grandparents city, and then arriving at his grandparents’ just after midday. He hadn’t even known that he was going to be living them. He’d only found out that he was going to be living with them a few days before it had happened. 

He squeezed his eyes, forcing away any memories that were going to resurface. Before he knew it, it was six a.m., and he needed to get up and out of bed. Not that he really wanted to. But then again, when did he really want to do anything?


	2. The First Day

Magnus stared up at the school building, working out whether he’d be able to pretend he went into school before running away from his grandparents. It was huge, with people sitting outside on the steps, somehow looking warm in t-shirts and shorts, even though it was cold enough for a coat. 

Magnus was that one person that was actually wearing a coat. Now he felt quite stupid as he got out of the car, even though no one was looking at him. He waved goodbye to his grandparents, who were smiling at him and waving back. 

He turned around, and then started making his way up the steps into the building. He was grateful that no one paid any attention to him. In his old school, people seemed to look at him all the time, but not in a good way. No one had been horrible to him at his old school, but he hung out with a weird crowd which made him the target of dirty looks and muffled conversations about him and his group. 

Magnus decided that he liked this school better. Not a single person looked at him, or questioned his existence. In fact, he realised, as he walked up the steps, no one _noticed_ his existence. Which was good enough for him. 

The letter that his grandparents had received and gave to him said to go straight to the principals office. But it had no directions, not even a clue as to where the principals office actually was. He started to walk awkwardly along the corridor, trying not to walk into anyone, though it seemed that they were trying to walk into him.

Magnus jumped when someone tapped his shoulder. He spun around, his hair falling in his face, blocking out his sight of the person. 

He quickly pushed his hair back, and saw that a girl was in front of him. She wasn’t that much smaller than him, but that was because he wasn’t all that tall anyway. Her red lips split into a smile when she realised that she’d got his attention. Her dark eyes looked him up and down, and then she flipped her black hair back behind her shoulder. 

“Are you okay?” She asked. Magnus didn’t really know how to respond, so just handed her the letter in his hands. She looked it over, and then smiled at him again. 

“You’re new here, huh?” She shoved the letter back in his hands, and then started walking away. He didn’t know if he was supposed to stay where he was, but he decided to follow her, just in case. 

“It’s almost halfway through the year, Magnus, so why are you here _now_?”

Magnus’ eyes widened, shocked by what she’d just said. “How do you know my name?”

She laughed. “Your letter. It said it on the top,” She turned round to look at him as she walked. “I’m Isabelle. Lightwood. Class president, head of the academic decathlon team, and head of the prom committee. I’m quite powerful around here, as you may be able to tell.”

Magnus didn’t really know how to respond. The girls like her at his old school never came within a mile of Magnus. And if they did, it was only to turn up their noses and scoff at him and his friends. 

Isabelle, though, at the moment, seemed nice. She was happily chatting to him as she led him to the principals office, not really asking him about himself but talking about what happened in the school. 

The principals office was on the second floor, overlooking the football field. Magnus stood awkwardly in the corner as Isabelle spoke to the principal, telling her who Magnus was and why he was here. 

“Mr Bane, please, come sit. Oh, and Miss Lightwood, make sure you check up with your brother about the yearbook. He’s busy with his football, I understand, but I entrusted him and Mr Herondale, and I expect that it is done to the highest of standards.”

“Of course, ma’am,” Izzy smiled at the principal, and then left the room, just as Magnus went to go and sit in the chair in front of the principals desk.

“So, Mr Bane, I haven’t been informed all that much on your situation-”

“It’s not that important, anyway.”

She looked at him, in such a way that make him feel like a child. He always got that look from people- the ‘I’m so sorry’ look, the ‘you don’t have to be sad’ look. He didn’t need apologises and he wasn’t sad. 

“Well, Mr Bane, I can just tell you that this school prides itself on high grades and mostly on physical abilities in the Sport department. If you do not enjoy sport then we recommend you join a science or language class that will boost up your grades.”

She handed him a couple of pieces of paper. One had a school map on it, the other one had a timetable, and the last one had a list of clubs and a sign up sheet on it. 

“We usually do club signups during the first week of school, but as you’re a special case, you can join any club that you want and you will be able to get in.”

Magnus looked through the list, but nothing jumped out at him. He’d never been in a school club before, as he didn’t think that they were all that important. But he supposed he could fill up his college reference form a little more, and joining yearbook committee wouldn’t hurt. 

He ticked yearbook committee, and then handed the sheet back to the principal. She looked at it, and then nodded at him. 

“Alright. The person who runs it is Alexander Lightwood, and his vice is Jace Herondale. If you see them, try to get to know them. I’ll make sure to tell them why you’re joining so late, and make sure to explain it to them as well. They’re good boys, so I’m sure they’ll have no problems with you.”

Magnus nodded, and then the principal excused him, telling him to go to his first class. It took him a while, but he managed to find his math classroom, which was on the first floor. He was squashed in at the back of the class, next to some boy that wouldn’t even look at him, even when he tried to introduce himself. 

By the end of the day, Magnus had made approximately zero friends. In fact, the only people he’d spoken to, other that his grandparents, were his teachers, the principal, and Isabelle, who he couldn’t find no matter how hard he looked. 

He got a note from Alexander Lightwood, who he remembered was the head of the yearbook committee.

‘ _Hi, Magnus Bane, thank you for taking an interest in yearbook committee. The principal told me that you only joined school today so I’m hoping you’ll be able to attend the next meeting at lunch tomorrow. We’re based in the art rooms, and if you come up to Jace or I (you’ll be able to spot us easily) then we’ll be able to find you something to do. You can eat lunch with us, but just make sure to grab something and come straight away as I want to start you on something ASAP. Thanks again_.'

He shoved it in his pocket after he got it. He could imagine Alexander Lightwood to be one of those stuck up prep boys who wore polos and blazers, but also played football and had girls falling over them all of the time. 

He hated that type of person, and so hated Alexander Lightwood. He was already mentally preparing himself to escape yearbook as soon as he walked in at lunch the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! i really wanted to do a highschool fic, so i'm sorry if you're not a fan of that au. i just love the idea of malec at highschool. 
> 
> thanks for reading!


	3. Player 6

Magnus' grandmother looked concerned as he laid, face down on the couch in the living room. She glanced sideways at her husband who too was looking at his grandson with some concern. 

"Maggy?" Magnus did not look up as his grandmother called him. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Magnus muttered into the fabric. It smelled like cats. "Maybe I should have done this in my room. I would have gathered less attention."

"What's wrong?" His grandmother asked again, and then he turned his head to the side to look at her. 

"I want to go home," he felt as though he was going to cry, which would be quite surprising as Magnus liked to think of himself as an emotional brick. "I do not like that school, I do not like this town. The only thing I like is you guys but I don't like being here."

"Is there anything we can do to make it better?" His grandfather asked. "I could take you fishing this weekend. Or we could start painting your room instead."

"I don't want to paint it," Magnus sat up, his arms at his sides and his hands gripping tightly onto the couch cushions. "I want to leave it plain because then it feels as if I'm not here for forever. If I paint it it means that I'm staying and I don't want to stay. I want to go home. Can't you just take me home?"

He didn't let his grandparents reply. He forced the tears away, and then walked off upstairs. 

He felt bad that he'd spoken to them in that way. He loved them a lot, but like he said, he hated it in the town. It wasn't at all like home. He didn't even like his home all that much, but he'd take that over being here any day. 

* * *

The next day, at lunch, Magnus shuffled his way towards the art classroom, where, apparently, the yearbook was. He tried to shove his sandwich in his mouth before he got there, but he ended up walking in with a mouthful of sandwich and hands covered in crumbs.

He spotted Jace, who had a badge that said 'VICE' on it in big blue letters. He waited awkwardly for him to finish talking to a girl with ginger hair, who smiled, kissed him on the cheek, and then left, leaving just Jace and Magnus in the room on their own. 

Jace looked over at him, and then motioned for Magnus to come over. Magnus did as he was told, still chewing his sandwich, and trying to dust crumbs off of his hands. "You must be Magnus," Jace said, looking him up at down. 

Magnus nodded. He quickly swallowed his sandwich, and then stuck out his crumby hand. "Nice to meet you."

Jace took one glance at Magnus' hand, laughed slightly, but then shook it. "Nice to meet you too.”

“Am I too early?” Magnus asked. “I wanted to make sure I was here on time, but I really thought I was going to be late.”

Jace shook his head. “Dude, don’t worry. You’re right on time. Alec will be here soon, and I’m sure everyone else will be too…hopefully.”

Jace wandered over to the desk at the front of the room, and picked up a pile of paper. He walked back over to Magnus, and put the paper down on the table next to him. 

“What’s that?” He asked. 

“That is the plan for the yearbook. Uh, the…the group has got a lot of plans, so Alec and I have to go through all of these and start setting out soon. Not yet, though. We’ve got months to go until we have to actually set it out.”

“Can I look through them?” Magnus asked, and Jace nodded, nudging the pile towards Magnus. Magnus started to carefully move the pieces of paper, looking through and seeing what ideas people had come up with. Some were good, some were not. It looked like the bad ones were marked with red, and Magnus guessed that they’d throw them out when they actually set out the book so as not to upset anyone. 

Magnus looked up at the door from the papers when he heard someone running down the corridor. A few seconds later, some guy ran into the room, his black hair plastered to his forehead, his royal blue football jersey with the number six on it, hanging off his frame as there were no shoulder pads in it. 

“Jace,” He panted, bending over slightly, trying to get his breath back. “Coach wants you. Urgently.”

“Huh? We had practise?”

“Julian warned me in Chemistry, but apparently it was just a surprise endurance test and then a quick game. But right now, I’m _dying_. You have to go.”

“Alec, dude, I am _not_ going.”

“Jace, go, or coach will probably hit you.”

Jace rolled his eyes, and then dropped the piece of paper he’d been drawing on. Then he walked out of the room, leaving Magnus and who Magnus now knew was Alec, alone. 

Magnus looked at Alec, who’s cheeks were bright red and eyelids half closed. He looked like he was about to pass out. Luckily for Magnus, who knew he would not be able to cary Alec, Alec grabbed a chair and sat down. He dropped his helmet on the floor, and took a long breath, before looking over at Magnus, who was trying to pretend that he was still interested in the pile of paper. 

“You must be Magnus,” Alec said, and Magnus glanced over at him, trying to be as cool as he possibly could. Even though he wasn’t cool at all. In fact, he thought he was uncool for trying to be cool. “I’m Alec. I’m sorry that I wasn’t here when you got here. We had football practise, and everyone is out watching. Coach only let me go because he knew I needed to be here.”

“Oh,” Magnus smiled a little at Alec. He moved his hair out of his eyes, and then started to tidy the pile of papers up. “It’s alright. I spoke to Jace. He was just telling me about stuff that happens. You know.”

Alec chuckled a little. He kicked his helmet out of the way as he walked past, and then hopped up onto the table that Magnus was leaning over. He started swinging his legs, reminding Magnus of a little kid, in contrast to Alec’s height. 

“I’m sorry that your first day of yearbook isn’t as exciting as you’d hoped it would be,” Alec looked at Magnus, and Magnus just shrugged. 

“It’s alright.”

“Tomorrow will be better,” Alec promised. 

“I might just have to hold you to that.”

Alec hopped off of the table, and then walked over to the desk where Jace had got the papers off of earlier. He started rifling through another pile of papers, and then pulled out a piece of paper, and grabbed a pen. 

He walked back over to Magnus, and leant on the table as he wrote something down. He then folded the piece up, and handed it to Magnus. Magnus opened it up, and looked at it. 

“It’s my number, and Jace’s number. You can call us, if you have any questions about school, or like anything, alright? I’m not really a phone person so I might not pick up straight away, so Jace is the safe bet, but…just call whoever.” Alec smiled at him.

“Oh, right, thanks,” Magnus half-smiled back, and then shoved the piece of paper in his pocket. 

The bell signalling the end of lunch sounded, and so Alec walked over to his helmet, and picked it up. Magnus picked up his bag, said goodbye to Alec, and then his way to his homeroom. 

The entire way there, he felt like the piece of paper was burning a hole in his pocket and his mind. Why had Alec given him his number? Was this some kind of joke? No one had ever given Magnus their number before, unless it was one of his friends back home, but they usually grabbed his phone and punched the number in before throwing it back to him, almost cracking the screen. No one had ever smiled at Magnus whilst giving him their number. 

Magnus didn’t dwell on it. In fact, he forgot about it, until he got back to his grandparents. He threw his phone and the piece of paper on the side, trying to remember to text or call Alec or Jace. 

He never did. 


	4. Promise Yourself

Magnus spent the next week alone again. He saw Alec and Jace around school often, but it wasn’t like he could just walk up to them. 

He saw Isabelle too, who hung around her brother a lot. He probably could have spoken to her, but Magnus just didn’t have the confidence to do it. So he ate lunch in the library behind some book shelves, and generally kept to himself around school. 

The piece of paper with Alec and Jace’s number had somehow found its way into the bottom of the garbage, so he couldn’t be tempted to text them. Magnus enjoyed being alone. There was some form of peacefulness that came along with it. 

At the weekend, Magnus’ grandfather took him to the lake just outside the town, and they went fishing for a couple of hours. Magnus couldn’t resist the offer of ice cream, and they sat together, waiting for a fish to take the bait whilst they ate their ice cream cones and chatted about anything other than school and Magnus.

When the next yearbook meeting came up, he wondered whether he could just skip it, and all the other meetings afterwards. He didn’t really want to see anyone, especially Alec, as he hadn’t called him, and Magnus guessed that that was quite a rude thing to do.

He went anyway, expecting there to be maybe a couple more people this time, but it seemed like the entire room was full to the brim with people. 

Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of girls in there, crowding around Jace and Alec. They were passing them several pieces of paper, and Magnus could see the red pen in Jace’s pocket, probably ready to mark all of the pieces for the garbage pile. 

Alec spotted him almost instantly, and excused himself from the girls around him, and walked over to Magnus. “Hey,” He smiled. “I haven’t seen you at all this last week. Where were you?”

“Oh. I was…” _Eating lunch alone in the library? Hiding in the bathrooms?_ “Just…busy. Homework. And stuff.”

Alec nodded. “Right. Well, I’m glad you’re here now. We could really use your help. Clary- she’s Jace’s girlfriend- is just coming with Lydia and they could use your help setting up for photos. Is that alright?”

“That’s cool with me,” Magnus smiled, and Alec’s face lit up. 

“Right, well, I’ll just go back to Jace. You…you stand there. Look nice. And wait.”

Alec walked off, and Magnus frowned at him. He was kid of weird, and not really what Magnus had expected at all. 

When the girls who Magnus expected were Clary and Lydia arrived, they walked straight over to Jace and Alec. Clary, who was the ginger girl that had been talking to Jace when Magnus had arrived the week before, kissed Jace, and then showed him some photos on her camera that was around her neck. 

Lydia, who was blonde and tiny compared to Alec, leaned up to kiss him. Magnus watched, kind of jealous of Alec, but kind of happy. They looked cute together, he had to admit. Alec had obviously said something to Lydia after they’d kissed, as she grabbed Clary’s wrist, and walked over to Magnus. 

“Hiya, Magnus!” Lydia smiled, and Magnus smiled a little back. 

“Hey,” Magnus replied, 

Clary took the camera off of her neck, and hung it over Magnus’ head. “You’re gonna come show us how skilled you are with a camera, and then we can see what you can do.”

* * *

Magnus pointed the camera at the ground, looking at the carpet through the screen. Clary was standing opposite him, impatiently tapping her foot, and Lydia was standing next to her, trying not to laugh.

“Uhm,” Magnus then held the camera up, aiming it up at Lydia and Clary, and snapped a picture. Lydia burst out laughing, and Clary shook her head at her friend, and walked over to Magnus, taking the camera off of him. She clicked onto the camera roll, and frowned at the photo. 

Magnus peered over her shoulder, and saw that the photo was blurry, and they looked like two unintelligible blobs. He’d taken photos before, and some had been okay, but now he was just not any good at it, apparently.

“Never mind,” Clary turned around, and patted Magnus’ shoulder. “So, photography isn’t your strong point. Leave that to Lydia and I. What about photo editing? Have you used photoshop before?”

Magnus shook his head. “Never edited anything. Sorry.”

“What about lighting?” Lydia suggested. “When we do photos we need a lighting guy.”

“Uhm…I can turn a light switch on?”

Before Clary could respond, there was a knock on the door of the classroom they were in, and then Alec walked in, a clipboard in his hand, and a pen behind his ear. “How’s everything going?” He asked, and Clary huffed, and shook her head. 

“I don’t think Magnus is suited to the photography department.”

Alec chuckled, and then took the pen from his ear and wrote down something on his clipboard. “I guess that that means you’re with me then!”

“What about-” Clary started. 

“Clary-”

“Jace could-”

“ _Clary,_ ” Alec was gripping the clipboard a little too tight, and Magnus was looking between the two of them, confused. “Magnus is working with me. You guys just…keep on doing your thing.”

Lydia walked over to Alec, kissed, his cheek, and attempted to hug him. He obviously didn’t notice, as he motioned for Magnus to follow, and walked out of the room, leaving his girlfriend hugging the air. 

Alec and Magnus walked back to the art classroom together, and Magnus listened as Alec was complaining about football and his coach. 

“Have you ever played?” Alec asked, and Magnus shook his head. 

“I’m not really a sporty person,” He replied. “And I’m a little too small. I think it would probably kill me.”

Alec laughed at what Magnus had said. “I thought I was gonna be too small. But then I had this growth spurt and…well, here I am. Centre for the Idris Angels.”

“That didn’t happen for me. The growth spurt. Though I really wish it had.” Magnus sighed, and Alec squeezed his shoulder, surprising Magnus a little. 

“Maybe I could teach you how to play football sometime?” Alec asked, and Magnus shook his head.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea…”

“Hey, no,” Alec stopped, so Magnus did too. “C'mon, man. After school one time. When no one will bother us. I’ll show you how to play. And we can hang out at the same time.”

Magnus was hesitant, but then he nodded. “Alright.”

He had no idea why on earth Alec wanted to be friends with _him_ , of all people. Magnus usually gave off that vibe that he did not want to be friends with people, and yet Alec was asking him to hang out. 

He decided not to question it. If Alec wanted to be his friend then Alec could attempt it. It wasn’t as if Magnus was actually going to be his friend, though. That was something that Magnus had promised himself he was not going to do- make friends. Because then, as soon as he graduated, he could go back home and start his life again there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!
> 
> don't forget to vote malec as tv's top couple ( http://www.eonline.com/news/759417/tv-s-top-couple-2016-vote-in-the-final-4-now )
> 
> i have a busy week this week, preparing for finals and all. i will try and upload as much as i can but no promises! thank you all for reading!


	5. The Painting Escapade

Magnus liked to think that he had his life planned out. He was going to graduate, get a job, earn as much money as he could, go back home, get a job in an office somewhere, maybe meet a nice girl, get married, have kids and then die. He liked to believe that that was what he was going to do with his life. 

Until Alexander Lightwood and his stupid group of friends just had to come along and ruin everything he’d planned.

Magnus had only been at his new school for a month when he finally realised that _yes,_ all these people he’d somehow managed to surround himself with were good people- _great,_ even- and he knew that he wanted to be friends with them for life. Jace, Clary, Izzy, Lydia and especially Alec were finally the people he’d been looking for. They didn’t say nasty things about him behind his back (at least, they hadn’t so far) and they actually made him feel welcome. 

Especially Alec. Alec had seemed to take a liking to him the day they met, but as the weeks went by, they started to grow closer and closer, and Magnus liked to think that they were on the verge of becoming best friends. Maybe if Magnus cracked a good enough joke they’d make it. 

Promises were promises to Alec, and he did actually start to teaching Magnus how to play football. It wasn’t his ideal hang-out activity, but it made Alec happy, and it was also funny seeing how slow Magnus was compared to Alec. 

There was also the plus side of Alec letting him wear his jersey, which was big and comfy and Magnus, for once, wanted to trade his hoodie in for something. 

Magnus’ improved mood seemed to make his grandparents happier, too. They didn’t want to push Magnus into doing anything he didn’t want to do, but they did continue suggesting for Magnus to paint his room, which, for a few weeks he wasn’t too keen on, but after a while finally said that he would. 

“Why don’t you invite your friends over to help?” Magnus’ grandmother asked Magnus over the dinner table. Magnus looked at her, about to say that that was a bad idea, but Clary and Lydia were both arty and hanging out with his friends for an entire day would be pretty fun. Especially if there was going to be food to eat. Who doesn’t love food? 

“Alright,” Magnus nodded, eating a mouthful of food, and then wiping his mouth with the back of his hands. “I’ll ask them tomorrow. Thanks Gramma.”

His grandmother smiled, and then started talking about her cats.

* * *

At the weekend, Magnus grandparents left to go out for the day, leaving Magnus and everyone home alone. “I know this is kind of weird,” He said, as everyone was standing in his room, looking up at the blank walls. “And a weird favour especially as we haven’t been friends long…”

“Magnus, it’s fine,” Clary smiled over at him. Her ginger hair was falling out of the loose bun she’d tied it up in, but she didn’t seem all that bothered. “We said we’d help. And we _want_ to help. There’s also free food so I don’t know why we’d complain.”

They all cracked the paint open, and started slathering the walls with blue paint. Magnus had never really liked the colour blue, but recently he’d started liking it more. It was probably because it was the school colour, but it wasn’t really the same shade. The school colours were royal blue, whereas he’d chosen to paint his room a lighter blue.

He was helping Izzy paint part of the wall about an hour in, when Alec walked over to his, and painted a blue stripe down his nose. Magnus was too small to be scary, but he tried his best to look angry at Alec. Obviously it didn’t work, as Alec just started to laugh. Magnus swapped his plan for fighting fire with fire. He painted a blue stripe across Alec’s cheek, stopping Alec’s laughter. 

“Hey!” Alec’s eyebrows furrowed. “What was that for?”

Magnus grinned, proud of what he’d done. “You deserved that, Alec.”

“Now, now, boys,” Lydia walked over, and wiped the blue paint off of Alec’s cheek. Alec flinched, and pushed her away gently. 

“It’s alright, Lyds, it’s just paint.”

She frowned. “I was just trying to help.”

Alec didn’t reply, and then went back to painting, but this time standing with his sister and Magnus, instead of next to Lydia and Clary. 

Magnus didn’t even think twice about what had just happened. He just continued painting, making sure the paint was drying evenly instead of too thick in one place, like it had when he had painted his room back home. 

They took a break at midday to eat lunch and to let the first coat dry. They sat out in the yard with a picnic of about a million things to eat. By the time all they’d finished eating, they were all so stuffed that everyone didn’t have enough energy to continue with the task at hand. 

They did though. Once they’d lounged about for long enough, they went back upstairs to Magnus’ room, and continued to with the second and final coat. 

It took them long enough, but by late afternoon, they’d finished it, and Magnus couldn’t thank them enough for what they’d done. 

“Don’t thank us,” Izzy smiled at Magnus, and hugged him quickly. “You deserved it. You’re a great person, Magnus Bane.”

Magnus laughed a little, and then shook his head. “Not really, but thank you. Really. So much.”

Clary and Jace left together, and Izzy, Lydia and Alec were going to leave together too, but then Alec decided that he was going to stay for a little bit longer. Not that Magnus was really complaining. 

“I’ll drive you home, Lydia,” Izzy said, and Lydia thanked her. She went to kiss Alec who pretended he didn’t notice, and turned and walked away, going upstairs to look at Magnus’ room. 

Lydia didn’t say anything. She smiled and thanked Magnus, who smiled back, and then saw the two girls out. He ran his hands through his hair a couple of times, and then walked upstairs to join Alec. 

Alec was standing in the middle of Magnus’ room, looking up at the walls as if they werea million dollar piece of art. 

“Why are you invading my grandparents house, Alexander?” Magnus asked, and Alec looked at him, barely noticing that he’d walked in the room. 

“I’m sorry,” Alec said. “Did you want me to leave?”

“No, honestly, it’s fine. I just wanted to know why you’re staying longer than everyone else. Aren’t you sick of me by now?”

Alec shook his head. “I’d never be sick of you Magnus. Don’t say such stupid things.”

Magnus didn’t really know how to respond. He usually assumed that people grew sick of him after a while. And they usually told him that, too. 

Yet Alec wasn’t sick of him. He wanted to stay with him longer, which was a first for Magnus. And he wasn’t going to push him away. 

“Why did you move here?” Alec asked. 

Magnus had not spoken about why he’d moved here to anyone. His mouth went a little dry, and he decided that he did not want to stand up. He sat down on the floor, even though it was quite uncomfortable, and crossed his legs. Alec looked down at him, and then joined him, but stuck his legs out. 

“Do you really want to know? Or are you just being nosy.”

“Both, I guess,” Alec shrugged. “I wanna know more about you. But I’ve gotta be nosy to know you better.”

Magnus sighed. He swallowed hard, and then pulled his legs tighter against him. “I’m bisexual.”

Alec glanced at him, and then back at the walls that seemed to interest him so much. “Alright.”

“Huh,” Magnus frowned. “Most people usually react worse than that when I tell them.”

“Well I’m not most people,” Alec replied. “But being bisexual can’t be the reason as to why you moved here.”

“Not entirely.”

“Go on then, tell me the rest of your story.”

Magnus took a deep breath. “So, there was this guy. Back home. I didn’t know him. Not really. He was a little bit rude and arrogant but he was nice to me sometimes, and he was good looking. I fell for a him, a bit, I guess. And I told him. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t feel the same way-”

“Why is that unsurprising?” Alec cut in. “I’m surprised. He lost out.”

Magnus laughed a little. “Okay. Well, whatever. I’m flattered, thanks. Anyway, he told everyone, and word spread, until it reached my parents. I wasn’t out then, so when they found out, they went mad. And for a week it was silence, and they they started abusing me. Like, not hitting me or anything. Just…verbal abuse. Slurs and stuff. Telling me it was just a phase, that I was doing it for attention, that they could get a priest to exorcise me or force it out of me, that I wanted more friends and this was the only way to become ‘cool’. It got worse and worse, and then…”

“And then?”

“And then they fucking died,” Magnus muttered. Alec stopped looking at the walls, and looked at him. Magnus was staring at the ground. He pulled his legs up to his chest, and Alec moved closer, though not too close. Just close enough to show that he was there. “They were coming back from some stupid meal and some guy just drove straight through the car. And you know what my first thought was? I thought ‘well at least they can’t be biphobic to me anymore’. I’m still disgusted at myself. My parents died and all I could think about was them not being rude to me ever again. I didn’t think about the fact that they were _dead_.”

“But…they tortured you, on a daily basis, Magnus. You’re not disgusting to think about the fact that the torture would stop.”

“They still loved me, I think,” Magnus squeezed his eyes shut. “Somewhere. They didn’t hate _me_ , I know that. They just hated who I am.”

Magnus opened his eyes when he felt Alec’s arms around him. Magnus was not a person who liked hugs, but he didn’t push Alec away. In fact, he gripped onto him, and forced himself not to cry. 

“I shouldn’t have asked,” Alec whispered, and Magnus shook his head.

“It’s alright.”

Alec pulled himself away from Magnus, only slightly, and he sat on his heels, his face a few inches away from Magnus’. For a few moments, Magnus thought he was going to sit back down, and they’d start to talk about something else, but then Alec leaned forward, and, suddenly and unexpectedly, kissed him, hard on the lips. 

Magnus barely registered what was going on before he pushed Alec away, and moved back from him. He wiped his mouth, and glared up at Alec. He squeezed his fists tight, and looked as Alec looked absolutely mortified by what he’d done. 

“Magnus, I’m-”

“What the fuck, Alec?” 

Magnus shuffled to stand up. He dusted himself off, and stood dangerously close to the wall, trying to put as much space between him and Alec as possible. 

“Magnus, I didn’t mean to do that.” Alec’s voice was shaking, as was the rest of his body.

“What the fuck,” Magnus said again. He shook his head, trying to get his brain to work. He squeezed his eyes shut, and then opened them again, as if that would help him regain his train of thought. “What- why did you do that? Just- you-”

“I’m gonna go. I’m sorry. I don’t know- why did I- _I’m sorry._ ” Alec whispered, and quickly ran out, leaving Magnus to try and wrap his head around what had just happened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! i have a lot of revision for my finals this weekend, so i won't be updating much in the next few days. which is why i have written such a long chapter this time! hope you enjoy!


	6. Smoke and Ashes

Alec could not look Magnus in the eye when they went back to school. He suddenly stayed so close to Lydia, trying to persuade both himself and Magnus that he was straight, and what he'd done was just an accident.

Magnus, however, wanted Alec to look him in the eye, and tell him why he'd done what he had. Did he like him Magnus? Was he being serious? Did he want to use him? Or was it a joke? Did Jace dare Alec, because no one in the group actually liked Magnus and wanted a way to drive him out?

Magnus had no idea, but he was a self-diagnosed paranoid obsessor and could not stop himself from thinking about all the ideas, so much so that he finally decided it was best if he just left the group entirely.

It was upsetting; the fact that he'd had all these friends for what, for him, was a long time, and now because, of one thing one of them had done, he had to leave. Magnus was not the type of person to just ignore someone, but he was the type of person to be ignored. He isolated himself a lot, but this was the first time he'd isolated himself from what he considered were his friends.

The first day that he sat on his own, he couldn't even face the librarian, so he sat in the bathroom, studying the graffiti on the back of the door whilst he ate his sandwich. Over the hour he grew quite fond of the graffiti that said 'S+C 4ever', because there was a red cross through it, and underneath, it read 'nvm, fuck Jace Herondale man'. Magnus guessed that 'C' was Clary, and he also wondered if Jace knew about the graffiti. If he did, did he also know who 'S' was? Whoever had written it, Magnus silently thanked them for something to laugh at.

Thankfully, he managed to not run into anyone the entire day. He saw them, but they didn't see him, which he was glad of. He went back to being invisible like he had been on his first day. They didn't have much more of school left, anyway. If Magnus could, somehow, get through the next few months without seeing them, or at least making anymore friends, then he'd be able to leave without missing anyone- only his grandparents.

* * *

After a week or so had passed, and Magnus had successfully avoided pretty much everyone on the entire earth, he found himself being sitting on the sinks in the bathroom, opening his mouth so some guy called Raphael could shove a cigarette in between his lips, and another blonde girl- who hadn't introduced herself yet- lighting it for him.

Once it was lit, he took it out of his mouth, and held it in between his fore and middle finger. "I don't smoke," He said, and the guy standing next to Raphael looked up at him, and nodded.

"Sure you do, man. I see the way you're holding that smoke. You've done it before." He tapped the end of his cigarette, and the ash went over Raphael's back. He made a weird face, one mixed with confusion and horror, and then started trying to dust it off. Raphael turned around, punched him in the cheek quite gently, and then groaned.

"Honestly, Simon, how many jackets of mine are you gonna ruin?"

"Ladies, please," the blonde girl chimed in, her rouged lips curving around the end of her cigarette. "This isn't the way to act in front of our guest."

She smiled at Magnus, who didn't smile back. "I'm Camille. I'm also quite fond of smoking, so if you want to smoke with us tomorrow, you've gotta bring your own pack."

"I'm alright," Magnus said, still not putting the cigarette back in his mouth. "I don't smoke."

"Honey," she purred. She reminded Magnus of a doll. "The only reason you're here with us right now, instead of sitting in the stall on your own again, is because we heard your goddamned smokers cough. Don't go telling me you don't smoke."

Magnus blinked a couple of times, and then held the cigarette out to her. "I quit. I don't smoke anymore."

"Baby, smoking ain't gonna kill you," Camille took a long drag of the cigarette, and blew it in Magnus' face. "It's fun. It's a vice. I was doing hard drugs before I started smoking."

Magnus eyebrows almost shot off of his forehead. "Really? What? Like cocaine?"

Simon snorted from the corner. Camille just smiled again at Magnus. "I'm kidding, but it's better to smoke that snort, I guess."

Magnus felt kind of offended that she hadn't actually done hard drugs. He was looking forward to some exciting stories.

He glanced down at the cigarette, and then lifted it up to his lips. He hated the taste of nicotine to no end, but Camille was right- it was a vice, and it was an easy cure to boredom.

By the time Magnus had finished his cigarette, Raphael had opened all of the bathroom windows to waft the smoke out, and Camille was spraying some kind of perfume to cover the smell.

The top of Magnus' mouth was stinging a little, and he could feel a cough rising in the back of his throat. Still, he let Simon give him another cigarette, and a lighter, and didn't argue with them when they said that they'd meet him tomorrow.

* * *

On the way home, Magnus stopped off at a store to get a pack of cigarettes. Though his face looked old enough to be able to buy cigarettes, his height made people believe he was a lot younger than he actually was. At his old school, he used to be able to give the money to his friends and they'd go in a buy him a few packs, but with no friends to buy him any here, he had to do it another way.

He stood outside the store for a good few minutes before finally, a middle aged woman with dark red hair sighed at him, took the money, and went to buy him a pack.

Magnus thought she's up and ran with his money, but eventually she came backs holding a huge canvas that was the same size as her, a box of Polaroid films, a coffee and a 10 carton pack of cigarettes.

Magnus frowned. He'd only given her ten dollars, so why on earth had she come back with something worth five times as much as what he'd given her?

"Here you go," she smiled, handing him the pack. He looked at it, at her, back at it, and then at her again.

"I gave you ten," he frowned.

"I know," She hoisted the canvas up, and thought it looked almost too big for her to carry, it seemed like she'd done it before. "But you were polite, and I had extra money on me. Just promise me you won't actually use this to go and do real drugs?"

"Ma'am-" She shook her head at him.

"My daughter is obsessed with art and photography," She said, and looking at her, he realised that she looked a lot like Clary. The same soft features, the same green eyes and wavy red hair. "She's not the type of girl to smoke. So I buy her these instead. They're her vice." She shook the pack of Polaroid films.

"I still don't- What?"

The woman laughed. "Don't ask. Just accept. Maybe you can finished these and then stop smoking. Just don't make me regret buying them for you."

She left, without asking anything else from Magnus. He gripped the pack tightly in his hand, and then proceeded to take them out of the plastic wrapping, and shove each carton in his bag.

At home, he hid nine cartons around his room where he was sure his grandparents wouldn't find them, and kept one in his bag for school the next day.

The pack in his beside draw was finished by the end of the day. He leant out of the bathroom window to prevent the smell clinging to his bedsheets in his bedroom. He was glad his grandparents weren't all that observant as he was sure they would have smelled the smoke on him straight away otherwise.

It got to the early hours of the morning when he started on his second pack. He'd tried to force himself not to, but the temptation was too much, and was leaning out the bathroom window again, staring out at the dark blue night sky, watching the smoke float away on the wind.

When he finished half of that pack, he decided enough was enough, and he went back to bed, hiding that pack in his draw to finish in the morning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! finals are super soon so I've been super busy the last few days! but now I'm back with an update, so I hope you enjoy!


	7. Make Me Want To Stay

Resting his head back against the bathroom mirror, Magnus sucked in a lungful of nicotine. It was heavy, and it made the back of his throat sting, but it went to his head a little, calming his tension. Camille was delicately walking, balancing her way along the cracks in the tiles like she was walking a tightrope, and Simon was sitting on top of Raphael's shoulders, smoking out the window so as not to get too much of the smell on his clothes. 

The smoke was clinging to the mirrors, and Magnus started to distract himself by drawing patterns on them, wondering whether it could be considered art. He was sure, if he was a famous artist, someone would pay millions for an ash covered mirror with some swirls on it. But he wasn't a famous artist, so it was going to stay hanging in the bathroom in his school. A shame, really. 

He barely even registered the door opening. He only noticed when Camille ran into one stall, Raphael took himself and Simon into another, leaving Magnus sitting on the sinks alone. 

It could have been a teacher, or another student that would likely rat him out, but when Magnus looked over, he saw Alec hurrying into the only other spare stall, obviously trying to ignore Magnus. Magnus didn't try to throw his cigarette away. Alec had already seen him so there was no use in getting rid of the evidence. 

Magnus took in a long breath of smoke, and another, and then watched Alec exit the stall, and awkwardly walk over to the sink as far away from Magnus as he could get. 

"Hi," Alec whispered a few moments later, surprising Magnus. Magnus, who had not spoken to him in over two weeks, was not sure how to reply. Their solid friendship had disappeared, leaving Magnus at a loss for words. 

"Sorry, you don't have to talk to me," Alec muttered, shutting off the water flow from the faucet. He shook his hands, and then stuck them under the hand dryer for a second. "I didn't know you smoked."

"I didn't," Magnus replied. "I mean, I did, before here. Then I stopped. But, you know...things happen."

"Right," Alec scratched the back of his neck. "So, you in here on your own?"

Magnus didn't want to rat Camille, Simon and Raphael out, so he nodded. Alec moved ever so slightly closer to Magnus, his arms now folded across his chest. "About what happened..."

"No, Alec, it's okay," Magnus said. He didn't want Alec to accidentally out himself. Alec was popular, and it was hard to not know who he was. If Camille, Simon and Raphael knew he'd kissed a guy, whether it was for a joke or not, Magnus knew that they'd spread it. 

"No, it's not," Alec said sternly. Magnus didn't even get a chance to stop him from talking anymore. "I shouldn't have kissed you. It was an accident. I'm just- I'm just so confused. Lydia won't listen to me every time I try to tell her what’s going on with me, and I can't find the right words to tell Jace what I'm feeling. I'm scared everyone will hate me if I come out. Magnus, I'm- I'm terrified. And you were just there. I needed to see if I was...if I was-"

"Alec, it's alright," Magnus whispered, and instantly, Alec stopped speaking. "You don't have to say anymore."

"Can you come back?" Alec asked, and Magnus frowned. "To us? Please. We all miss you."

Magnus nodded. He didn't feel like he had any other choice. Alec's face lit up though, and Magnus' heart fluttered a little in his chest. He inhaled one last breath of his cigarette, and then jumped off of the sink. He reached up, throwing it out of the window. By the time he'd turned around, Alec was gone, but he noticed that there was a weird smiley face drawn on one of the mirrors. Just like that, it seemed, they were back to normal. 

But then, bringing Magnus back down to earth, Camille, Simon and Raphael stepped out of the stalls. They looked amused, and Magnus realised that they'd heard everything Alec had said. 

"Little superstar-ladykiller-smarty-pants Alec Lightwood is gay?" Raphael raised his eyebrow, and Magnus' shoulders dropped. 

"Huh? No? He didn't say that," Magnus said, which was true- he hadn't said it. Not in as many words. 

"Well well well," Camille looked happy to hear the gossip. "I wonder who I should tell first!"

"No one," Magnus begged. "Camille, please, you don't understand- he'd- he'd die."

"Okay, darling," she flicked her blonde hair behind her shoulder. "Let's say ten packs of smokes and we didn't hear anything."

* * *

Twenty-four hours later, Magnus was down fifty dollars, and down to his last pack of cigarettes, but he was back with Alec and his friends. He didn't give them a real answer as to why he left- instead he just apologised, and stuck to Alec's side like glue.

It was as if he'd never left. As if the possibility of them ever hating him was stupid. Alec even invited him to hang out with them after school at the Lightwood's huge house a few blocks away from school. 

He went, obviously. He hadn't been to Alec and Izzy's house before, so it was exciting and interesting to be able to see what their house was like, but he went mostly to be able to hang out with his friends again. 

As he walked alongside Alec on the way back, he couldn't help but look at him. Maybe it was a little bit weird, that he couldn't stop staring, but Alec was nice to look at, and intrigued Magnus to no end.

Magnus narrowly dodged a tree, with only his shoulder knocking into it slightly. He guessed that was the Gods telling him to stop staring, so he did. 

The Lightwood house was huge. And by huge, Magnus meant the biggest house he'd ever seen. Ever. 

Magnus had no idea what Alec and Izzy's parents did for a living, but obviously it earned them enough for a house this size. Magnus was almost certain that Alec had his own floor by the size of it. 

It was all glass and light coloured bricks, one of those really modern houses that, even if you don't like the style, you'd definitely live in if someone offered it to you. There was a huge driveway, where five cars were parked, and though Magnus had no idea what someone would do with five cars, he was impressed. 

Walking in, Magnus grew slightly embarrassed by his grandparents house. If he'd known how big the Lightwood house would be, he would have broken into a big-ish house and pretended it was his for the day.

Everyone neatly put their shoes by the front door, and Izzy offered to make snacks, but didn't get all that far, as everyone but herself and Magnus screamed at her to not, and Alec ran out to what Magnus guessed was the kitchen, before his sister could. 

Izzy, not seeming too surprised by the sudden outburst from everyone, started walking up the stairs, followed by everyone else. Magnus, not all that sure whether he should follow or not, awkwardly stood by the front door, and waited for Alec to come back and tell him it was fine if he went up. 

Alec though, was not back as quickly as Magnus had hoped. Magnus heard something fall from one of the rooms further into the house, and then more things fall, and Alec cursed loudly. Magnus couldn't help but laugh, and walked toward where the sound had come from. 

The kitchen, as Magnus had expected, was big, with a refrigerator that took up half a wall, and the room like it would probably be suitable as a bedroom as well, as it looked so clean and comfortable. 

He didn't spend long thinking about where he could set up a bed, though, as Alec was desperately trying to grab half of the refrigerator, but not doing so well at it. 

He hurried over, taking a few things out of Alec's hands. Alec thanked him, kicking the door shut with his foot. "I thought my arms were big enough to carry everything, but apparently not." Alec sighed. Magnus just smiled at him. 

They carried the food upstairs, where Alec led Magnus into what seemed to be the living room, but he'd walked past the living room on the bottom floor. 

"This is our living room," Alec said, as Magnus stood in the doorway, staring at the room. 

"Your living room?" Magnus asked. 

"Yeah. The family living room is downstairs, but this is mine and Izzy's. Mom and dad's bedroom is basically a living room anyway, so they don't need one."

Magnus had never heard something ridiculous- needing two living rooms for one house? Magnus had only ever had a tiny living room, both back at home and at his grandparents. But here he was, standing in the middle of a second living room. He could have fainted.

Alec put all the food down on the coffee table, where Clary, Izzy, Jace and Lydia were sitting, and then took the food out of Magnus’ arms and placed it down too. For the six of them, it was probably a little too much, but both Alec and Jace ate a lot anyway, so they would surely eat it all. 

“You guys can eat, and do whatever,” Alec said, grabbing a handful of chips and offering them to Magnus, who took one. “I’ll go and show Magnus around.”

With that, Magnus followed being Alec, as he lead him out of the living room, and out into the hall. 

Alec was still munching away at his chips, as the walked down the hall. He was pointing out rooms around a mouthful of chips, making Magnus laugh, and also making him happy that he was back with his friends. He was glad that Alec had apologised, and explained why he’d kissed him, or Magnus would have just been on his own for a long time. It hadn’t even been two days, but it seemed like they were back in the swing of things again. 

“And this is my room,” Alec pushed open a door, and Magnus walked in first. His room had white walls, and it wasn’t all that interesting, but it was huge, and the first thing Magnus spotted was the huge king-sized bed. He went straight for the bed, and hopped up onto it. It felt like he was floating, and he wobbled a little as he sat down. 

“Water bed, sorry,” Alec smiled at him, pushing the door shut, and then dusting his hands. “Feels weird at first, right?”

“It’s amazing,” Magnus laughed, and then stood up. What he wouldn’t give for a water bed. Then he saw the huge TV, and the huge rack of CD’s, and the electric guitar-

“You play guitar?” Magnus asked, walking over to it. It was royal blue, like the colours of the school. Magnus laid a gentle finger on it, where it was hanging up on the wall.

“I don’t play,” Alec said, walking over to him, and looking up at the guitar. “I thought it was nice, and so my dad bought it for me. I have no idea why.”

“You’re so lucky,” Magnus turned to Alec, who was looking down at him. “I wanted to learn to play guitar for years, but my parents could never afford it. I asked for a guitar every year for Christmas and for my birthday, but I never got one.”

“Well, maybe you should ask for a guitar next Christmas. Maybe Santa will bring you one.” Alec smiled at him, and Magnus smiled back. 

Instead of going back to the others, they went and sat on Alec’s bed, and Alec spoke about the football team, and how the last game was coming up a few weeks before prom. “It’s kinda sad that football will be over, and then we’re all going to college. But at least Jace and I have the same football scholarships, so I won’t be on my own.”

Magnus’ heart sunk a little. He completely forgot about college and university. He hadn’t had the chance to even think about it over the past few months. He didn’t really want to go to university or college, anyway. He just wanted to work and earn money. 

Alec noticed that Magnus looked upset, and reached over to squeeze his shoulder. “It’s alright. If you’re staying in Idris, we can still hang out when I come home for the weekends. Where do you want to study, anyway?”

“I don’t,” Magnus replied, and Alec frowned. “I kinda wanna just go back home. Get a job. Just not be here.”

Alec sighed. “I don’t think it’s too late to sign up for any colleges…”

“Alec, I just don’t want to stay here.”

“What if something makes you want stay here? Would you still leave.”

Magnus pulled his legs up to his chest, forcing himself into a ball. “I don’t think anything would make me want to stay.”

“Not anything? _Anyone?_ ”

Magnus’ heart sped up a little, and he took a long breath. He squeezed his eyes shut, and then looked back at Alec. He suddenly couldn’t stop the words from coming out of his mouth. “Listen, I think-”

But then there was a knock on the door, and it opened as Izzy poked her head in. “Are guys gonna come back? I’m pretty sure Jace is planning on eating all the food if you don’t come and eat some too.”

Magnus stood up too quickly, going a little dizzy. He walked away from the bed and from Alec, and he knew that Alec would be wondering why he was leaving so quickly. The truth was, he wasn’t sure why either. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, another quick update! this time its over 2,000 words :p hope you enjoy!


	8. Love-Sick

“Sweetie, you can’t go to school today. I’m sorry.”

Magnus’ grandmother stood over his bed, where he was laying down. He had the duvet pulled up over his chest, and the white sheets matched his face. Any form of colour that had been in his cheeks was gone, and his eyes were drooping from trying to keep them open. 

“I wanna,” He croaked, and his grandmother placed the back of her hand on his forehead. 

“No. you need to rest. Go back to sleep.”

“But…Alec and Jace are playing football today. I promised I’d watch.”

His grandmother sighed, and then gently sat down on the bed next to Magnus. “I’m sure that they won’t mind if you don’t go.”

“But-”

“I’ll make you some tea.”

Magnus couldn’t argue anymore, as his grandmother walked out, and downstairs, leaving Magnus to take a deep breath, before the sick feeling in his stomach got even worse than it already had been. 

Magnus knew the reason he was sick wasn’t because of something he’d contracted from school, but because he hadn’t been sleeping during the past few nights, and he’d been worrying over something he wasn’t even sure about yet. 

He felt sick rise in his throat, and he took another deep breath, and leant over the side of the bed, his head over the empty trash can his grandmother had bought in for him, after she realised that he wouldn’t have been able to make it to the bathroom in time if he was going to throw up. 

Nothing came out of his mouth, but the vomit left his throat stinging, and he rolled back so he was laying in the middle of his bed. He started shaking, slowly at first, and then chills took over his entire body, and he felt sweat rolling off of his forehead. 

When his grandmother came back in, she sighed at him, placing the tea on his bedside table, and then going into the bathroom to get him a cool flannel. She started dabbing his forehead, and a little while later, he started to cool off and his temperature returned to normal. 

“Try and get some rest now. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

Magnus didn’t say anything as his grandmother left, though he wanted to thank her. Instead, he let his eyelids close, and he fell asleep almost instantly. 

* * *

Magnus woke up a few hours later, to the sound of the doorbell ringing. He rubbed his eyes, and then sat up. He waited for someone to answer the door, but when no one did, he stood up, his head spinning slightly. He winced, somehow keeping his balance.

On his bedside table, he saw there was a tiny slip of paper. He picked it up, and saw that it was his grandmothers writing, and she had written that her and his grandfather had gone out to the supermarket and to the pet store, and there was soup in the fridge for him, if he was hungry when he woke up. 

He wasn’t hungry, but someone seemed desperate to talk to someone in the house, as the doorbell kept on ringing, and someone kept on knocking on the door.

Magnus picked up his duvet and wrapped it around his shoulders, before walking down the stairs. His feet were bare, and the floor was freezing, making him feel equally cold. He pulled the duvet closer around him, before walking over to the door, and slowly opening it. 

He barely even opened it, when a huge flutter of royal blue barged into him, almost knocking him over. 

Magnus made a weird noise, the duvet falling off of his shoulders, and a chill instantly over taking his entire body. 

“Where were you?” The person- Alec, Magnus now realised- was standing in front of him, wearing his football gear. The only thing he was missing was his helmet. 

“What?” Magnus squinted. His eyelids were heavy. He wanted to go back to bed. 

“At school,” Alec tilted his head to the side slightly. “Are you sick?”

“What?” Magnus asked again, and then he sighed. “Oh. Yeah.”

“Right, well, let’s get you back up to bed then.” 

Magnus did not argue. He felt weak all of a sudden, and his knees buckled as he fell down onto the duvet that was on the floor. He barely heard Alec gasp, before he blacked out. 

* * *

When he woke up again, Magnus was met by bright blue eyes looking down at him from a seat next to his bed. He couldn’t muster up the energy to gasp, so instead he took a long breath in through his nose, and then realised that it was Alec sitting in front of him.

“You’re alive!” Alec smiled softly, and then wiped Magnus’ forehead with something cold. “I thought you were dying, or something.”

“I am,” Magnus whispered, so quietly that he could barely hear himself.

“No you’re not,” Alec put the flannel that he’d wiped Magnus’ head with on the bedside table, and then pushed his hair off of his forehead. Magnus could feel that it was sticky with sweat, but Alec didn’t seem to mind. “You’ll be fine. I made you some tea but it’s cold. Sorry.”

Magnus just smiled at him weakly, and then closed his eyes again. He didn’t fall back asleep, but Alec was running his hand through his hair, and it was soothing, even though his heart was beating fast in his chest. 

Alec didn’t say anything else, until Magnus opened his eyes again. “Is there anything you want to eat?”

Magnus shook his head. “Thanks, though. You can eat.”

“I’m good,” Alec replied, and he twirled a bit of Magnus’ hair around his finger. “Your grandparents came back an hour ago. They were shocked I was here, but they let me stay.”

“Oh,” Magnus closed his eyes again, but then they shot open. “What time is it?”

Alec looked up at the clock on the wall. “Eight.”

“Fuck, Alec you need to go to footb-”

Magnus covered his mouth with his hand, and Alec quickly jumped up, grabbing the trash can, and holding it so Magnus could throw up in it if he needed to. 

Once again, Magnus didn’t throw up. He felt gross though, and flopped back down on the bed, feeling all the colour in his cheeks disappear again. Alec gently put the trash can back down on the floor, and sat down on the chair. 

“Poor little baby,” Alec whispered, and Magnus couldn’t even bring himself to laugh at him. Alec continued to run his hands through his hair, and Magnus closed his eyes again. “It’s alright. I’m sure they won’t miss me. I’m looking after you, anyway. You’re more important than football, anyway.”

The comment barely even registered with Magnus. He was too busy pitying himself. He could feel himself start to sweat again, even though he was shivering. 

“I knew you were gonna be sick,” Alec said and Magnus tuned in a little. “You looked tired, so I knew you hadn’t been sleeping properly. That and you haven’t been eating. And you’ve looked like something is bothering you.”

“Yeah.”

“So what is it?” Alec asked. “What’s on your mind, Magnus?”

“I don’t-” Magnus shrugged weakly. “I don’t know.”

“Alright…I’ll go first- I’m probably gonna fail Spanish. And my dad wants to give me the family ring for my birthday, but it only gets passed down when the owner dies, so I’m worried he’s trying to tell me something.”

Magnus didn’t say anything. Alec was still running his hands through his hair, but when Magnus didn’t reply, he stopped. 

“Now it’s your turn.”

“I don’t know,” Magnus said again. Alec continued running his hands through his hair.

“Okay, I’ll go again,” Alec rested his head in his hand on the bed. “I came here to see if you were okay because you never answered your phone. But I stayed with you instead of going to football because I’m….well, I’m in love with you.”

Magnus swallowed hard, and then reached up, and moved Alec’s hand out of his hair, and onto the bed next to his face. He didn’t let go. He could feel Alec’s eyes on him, and he realised the thing that had been eating at his brain was Alec, and the feelings that had been hiding for Alec had made him sick. Love sick, literally. 

He felt stupid, especially if Alec had feelings for him too. He could have avoided being ill, but if he had, he would have never had known. 

“I love...you too.” Magnus whispered, a little breathless, and then Alec’s face lit up. 

“God, I hope that that’s not your illness speaking.”

Magnus smiled slightly, looked at Alec’s overly happy expression, and then his eyes drooped closed, and fell asleep again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow im so fast with the updates now haha. guys, please don't forget to leave comments and kudos! it really makes me happy to get some feedback!


	9. Our Own Little World

It didn’t take to long for Magnus to recover, especially as Alec stayed home with him the next day to be his nurse. Alec’s phone wouldn’t stop buzzing, and Lydia called him several times, asking where he was and why he wasn’t at school. 

Alec didn’t lie to her, but the truth seemed to annoy her a little. “Fine,” She muttered. “Can we go to the mall when I’m out of school? There's something I need to buy, and Izzy can't come with me today.”

“Lyds, I’m looking after Magnus, I told you, so I can’t,” Lydia instantly put the phone down on him. 

Alec didn’t seem all that annoyed by her, though. He just continued to sit by Magnus’ bed, either talking to him, feeding him, or watching him as he slept. Magnus wanted to kiss him every time he looked at him, but he didn’t want to make him ill. And Magnus could be patient. Most of the time. 

By the end of the week, he was back to himself, and had the weekend to make sure he was perfectly okay before going back to school on Monday.

Alec stayed over at the weekend as well, as he’d had to go back to school the day after he stayed home with Magnus, and they wanted to spend time together when Magnus was well. 

So, the weekend was spent watching movies in Magnus’ room, sitting on the floor, sharing a huge bowl of popcorn and wrapped up in a blanket. It didn’t really feel all that much different between them, apart from the fact that they were sitting much closer than they ever would before, and that they’d admitted that they were in love with each other only a few days before. 

Magnus felt glad that the air around them still felt the same. It probably would have upset him if something major had changed. They were still best friends, but only now, Magnus could hold Alec’s hand if they were watching a scary movie without it being weird. 

By Sunday evening, they still hadn’t kissed. Of course they’d kissed, but Magnus didn’t count that one time as a proper kiss, and he hadn’t been in love with Alec then, and Alec hadn’t been sure, anyway. 

It was an hour before Alec had to go home, and they were watching the end of a film that Alec had picked out (horror, unsurprisingly, just so Magnus would hold his hand), when Magnus jumped into Alec’s lap after a monster had jumped out of nowhere, scaring both the character in the film, and Magnus too. 

He was half-kneeling between Alec’s legs, half-sitting on his lap. His hands were on Alec’s shoulders, squeezing tightly, looking back at the TV behind him, shaking a little from the fear that had shot through him. 

“You’re like a chihuahua,” Alec laughed at Magnus, who turned his head, and glared at him. 

“I am not,” Magnus then noticed that he was shaking, and gripped Alec’s shoulders tighter to stop himself from shaking anymore. “Let me live.”

Alec was still smiling at him, and Magnus didn’t think twice before he leant down, and kissed Alec’s lips lightly. 

The kiss didn’t last long, as Magnus felt too shy to continue. Alec, apparently, was not shy, and moved his hands up to Magnus’ hair, and pulled him back to his lips. Magnus opened his mouth to gasp, but didn’t manage to make any noise as Alec’s lips covered his, kissing him, making him unable to breath. 

It was a longer kiss that the one Magnus had initiated, but not by much. Alec was the one to pull away. He moved his hand from Magnus’ hair, and then cupped his face with both of his hands. “That was nice.”

Magnus laughed, covering his mouth with his hand. Alec smiled too, and then hugged Magnus tightly. Magnus rested his head on top of Alec’s, and they stayed like that for a while, not even noticing the movie still playing on the TV in the background. 

* * *

At school, though, it was like their little world that they’d created had never existed at all. Magnus had told Alec to meet him by his locker, and Alec had said he would, but when Magnus saw him walking down the corridor, his hand was linked with Lydia’s, and he looked so sad, making Magnus’ heart ache for him.

Magnus, though he liked Lydia, had forgotten about the fact that she was still Alec’s girlfriend. Now, seeing her holding his hand, and smiling up at him, he felt jealous, and he felt angry at her. 

It wasn’t her fault, obviously. Not only was Alec still so nervous of who he knew he was, but Alec had said that a lot of people at school were homophobic, and there was no way he would be able to come out before he left for university. 

When Alec walked past, he smiled at Magnus, but didn’t stop. Lydia seemed desperate to be somewhere, and her grip on Alec’s hand was so tight, that there was no way they he could get away from her. 

At lunch, Magnus sat as close to Alec as he could, without making it too obvious. Alec was smiling now, properly, and Magnus couldn’t help but wonder if it was because they were together now, without Lydia clinging to Alec’s side. 

Lydia, at lunch, tended to stay closer to Clary and Izzy, probably discussing something to do with art or girls or whatever, whereas Alec, Jace and Magnus sat and spoke about nothing in particular, and sometimes Jace and Alec started to talk about football, whilst Magnus listened, trying to absorb as much information about the sport that he possibly could. 

But then, it was back to Alec and Lydia, and Magnus trailing behind, as if he was Lydia’s shadow, wishing he could take her place. 

They went to the mall after school, as they did sometimes, and Lydia forced Izzy to go to into one of the stores with her, and Clary and Jace wandered off somewhere, finally leaving Alec and Magnus alone. 

They walked into one of the stores, one that had a lot of shelves and a lot of cover, thankfully, because Alec grabbed Magnus, and kissed him hard, almost knocking Magnus over. “I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” Alec whispered, and Magnus, cheeks flustered, smiled awkwardly up at him, leaning on one of the shelves. 

“We better go back.” Magnus said, even though he did not want to. He wanted to go back into that little Magnus and Alec world they had created over the past week. 

“Or we could stay here and I could kiss you?” Alec suggested. 

“Or we could do that.”

This time, when Alec kissed Magnus, Magnus was prepared, and didn’t fall into one of the shelves. He kept himself upright, gripping onto the front of Alec’s jacket, whilst Alec cupped his jaw, pressing himself as close as he could to Magnus. 

They quickly pulled apart, when they heard someone calling their names, and suddenly Magnus found the china plates on the shelf behind him extremely interesting. 

Izzy popped her head around the corner, and smiled at them. “We were looking for you. Lydia had to rush home, so, uh, are you two gonna hang out here for a while?”

Magnus looked at Alec, who shrugged, and then nodded. “I guess. We were just…” He picked up a teapot, and showed it to Izzy. “I was gonna buy something for Magnus’ grandparents. For, uh, their anniversary.”

Izzy smirked. “Right. Well. Have fun doing that. Don’t be home too late!”

Her hair span around, almost knocking a tea cup over, and then she walked away, leaving Alec and Magnus on her own. Alec turned around as well, facing Magnus, his face full of horror. Magnus frowned. 

“You know she knew, right?” Alec asked. 

Magnus tilted his head to the side. “How did she know?”

“She’s my sister, and she’s definitely going to be a detective when she’s older,” Alec just closed his eyes, resigned to the fact that his sister knew, even though Magnus wasn’t too sure she did. But then again, Alec _was_ right- she was Isabelle Lightwood, the smartest girl at their school, so there was no point in doubting what she knew. 

Magnus kissed Alec’s forehead, and then smiled at him. “Come back to my house?”

Alec nodded, and smiled. They were back in their own little world, and knew that someday, nothing could hurt them. 


	10. The Thing

It wasn’t that Magnus didn’t understand what Alec was going through, but the fact that Alec was dating both him and Lydia at the same time seemed weird to him. 

They’d been dating for two weeks when Magnus finally said something about it. He realised how weird it was when they were at school, and Alec was holding Magnus’ hand underneath the table, and Lydia’s hand on top. Magnus understood that Alec didn’t have much of a choice- he couldn’t come out yet, and there was literally no way that he could break up with Lydia- but it felt wrong to Magnus, and knew that Alec needed to make some kind of a choice. 

Unsurprisingly, Alec, when Magnus confronted him about it, broke down. “Magnus, _please,”_ He begged. Magnus’ heart broke when he heard the pleading in his voice. “You know how much I love you. You know it. I can’t- you know I can’t make a choice between hiding this and being with you or just telling everyone. You know I can’t.”

Magnus accepted defeat. 

Yes, he got it. He got that Alec was in the closet and Alec was terrified and it broke both of their hearts that they couldn’t be open about it, but it killed Magnus every time he had to see Alec and Lydia together. Especially since he knew that Alec was cheating on the poor girl. 

When, finally, Alec managed to bring himself to break up with Lydia, Magnus felt more proud than happy. Of course, they couldn’t be together, which didn’t make him super happy, but he was proud that Alec had mustered up the courage to tell Lydia that he didn’t think they should be together anymore. It had taken him long enough- Alec had known he was gay since a few months after he started dating Lydia, and they had dated for over a year. 

Lydia was heartbroken, unsurprisingly, but none-the-wiser to Alec being gay. She just assumed that Alec was breaking up with her in preparation for him moving away to college, and, though she was upset with him, didn’t seem like she was holding any grudges. 

That was, until, _The Thing_ happened. 

_The Thing_ was something that no one other than an evil genius could have dreamed up. In fact, the evil was _so_ genius that they never even found out who exactly did it. But _The Thing_ was one of the worst things that could ever have happened, and Magnus wondered, after it had happened, if there was something he could have done to prevent it. 

A day or two after Alec had broken up with Lydia, Magnus and Alec in all their ‘Alec doesn’t have a girlfriend anymore’ glory, deemed it a brilliant idea to kiss in public. Of course, not in school or in the street, but in the busy mall where, hopefully, no one would see them because of all the crowds. 

However, they had not taken into consideration the fact that the bigger the crowds, the more people there were, and the more likely people from there school were going to be there. 

It wasn’t a long kiss- a couple of pecks, big smiles, and then walking away from the scene. Alec had initiated it, carefully cupping Magnus’ cheek and leaning down to catch his lips. Magnus hadn’t pulled away, as they had both been assured of their own safety in the big crowd in the middle of the mall. 

They hadn’t noticed who it was, who was watching them from a few meters away. Whoever it was hadn’t been obvious- it could have been anyone. All they knew was this person knew who they were, and had access to millions of sheets of paper and a printer filled to the top with ink. 

At school the next day, before it started, Alec, Magnus, Jace, Clary, Lydia and Izzy had been sitting outside on the steps leading up to the school. It was a nice day- still, Magnus had not deemed a single day since he’d arrived in town a day hot enough to wear shorts, but it was a day nice enough to want to sit outside and maybe eat an ice cream. 

No one alerted to them what was about to happen when they walked in. No one looked at them weirdly as they walked up the steps, and no one seemed like they were whispering anything bad towards them either. They were blissfully unaware about what was going to happen as soon as they walked through the door. 

Magnus didn’t think he would have noticed if one of the photos didn’t fly of the wall and hit him in the face. Alec had been laughing at him, not having noticed yet either, his eyes crinkling in the corners at the fact that Magnus had been so shocked by the piece of paper in his face. 

He peeled it off, not bothering to look what was on it for a second, until Clary snatched it out of his hand, gasped, and then stared at Alec and Magnus in shock. 

That was when Alec’s face fell, and he grabbed the piece of paper off of clary, and covered his mouth, his face paling, looking like he was about to vomit. 

Lydia, being the only one to notice what was plastering the walls, and the fact that people were looking at their group weirdly, walked over to the wall, and pulled one of the photos off. Magnus saw then that, lining every single wall was hundreds, if not thousands of the photo that had hit him in the face. 

And that photo was a photo of him and Alec kissing. 

“What the fuck, man,” Jace muttered under his breath. Clary had shown him the photo, and he was staring at it, confused but not all that shocked. 

Alec was standing still, looking horrified about what was happening. Magnus didn’t know what to say, as no words were forming in his mouth and no thoughts were forming in his head. 

“Now I know why you broke up with me, Alec,” Lydia was on the verge of tears, her voice shaking. “Because you’re gay, right? Because you’re fucking Magnus?”

Jace was shaking his head. “That’s not cool, man.”

Izzy was the only one who did not seem upset by what was going on. Instead she seemed scared for her brother, whose eyes, alike to Lydia’s, were brimming with tears. 

“I-”

All the people who were now in the corridor were shaking their heads, tutting at Alec, and some people were shouting, calling him a ‘cheater’, and some other nasty words that Magnus would have liked to forget. 

When Magnus could not say anything to Alec to help calm him down, Alec ran suddenly, his legs taking him as fast as he could, down the corridor, through the crowds of people who were still shouting at him. Magnus saw him cover his ears, and his entire heart felt like it had fallen out of his chest. 

“That’s not cool,” Jace said to Magnus, and barged into him as he walked off, with Clary and Lydia at his side. Izzy was the only one who stayed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! i'm not too sure if anyone is actually enjoying this one, which is probably why it has taken me so long to write another chapter. if i'm honest, i rewrote it several times, coming up with new ideas for each one, as i wasn't really sure what everyone wanted to read. i went with the angsty chapter as, hey, in high school fanfics, there always has to be some drama!
> 
> but seriously, is anyone actually liking this fanfic? i feel like i have no motivation to write it as y'all aren't giving me loads of feedback!!! feedback always helps and really makes me sure that people want to read. if not, then i'll end this fanfic (that's not a threat, just the truth- if people aren't enjoying it, which is the whole reason why i'm writing it, then theres no point in continuing!)


	11. Not Just Okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!!! i'm sorry i haven't updated in forever. i've been busy with school and finals and life has sort of got in the way of me writing. i wrote this in just over an hour so excuse me if it isn't as great as it could be. I just wanted to you guys to get some form of material before i disappear again :p anyway, thank you for reading!

It took Magnus and Izzy over an hour to find where Alec had gone. Magnus found himself getting angry, but less at Alec and more at the people who had judged them already. It had forced Alec _literally_ into hiding. 

They were going to give up, when they tried the bathroom at the furthest side of the school, and found Alec sitting on the toilet seat in one of the cubicles. His eyes were bright red, but he wasn’t crying anymore. He didn’t even look up when the door opened. He was just staring at the floor, probably thinking way too much. 

“Alec,” Magnus walked into the cubicle, and crouched down in front of Alec. Alec made eye contact with him for a second, before looking away. Tears started to fill his eyes again, so Magnus stood up, and hugged him tightly. 

“What was I even thinking?” Alec muttered into Magnus’ chest. Magnus kissed the top of his head. “I should have just waited. Until school was over, and then…”

“It’s done now, Alec,” Izzy whispered. Alec took a long breath, and then sat back on the seat. 

“I know, but…” He shrugged, and then sniffled. “I just feel so-”

“How about we go home, Alec?” Magnus suggested, and Alec nodded. 

“I can’t face them,” Alec let go of Magnus. “Not today.”

“They don’t know what happened. Well…either do I, but I’ll stay and talk to them?” Izzy said, and Alec smiled very softly at her. 

“Thanks Iz,” His face dropped again, when he looked up at Magnus. “I’m sorry.”

Magnus shook his head. “Let’s get you home.”

* * *

Alec and Izzy’s parents worked long hours, so they didn’t usually get home until late evening, meaning that they wouldn’t be caught if they went back to Alec’s. It didn’t take them long to get home, especially as there wasn’t the rush of all the people coming out of school as they left. There were a few moments, as they were walking, that Magnus thought Alec was going to start crying again, but thankfully he didn’t.

The moment they got back to Alec’s, Alec ran off upstairs, to his bedroom, and Magnus was left to make sure everything of his and Alec’s were neatly by the door, before going to the kitchen and making them both a cup of tea. 

Magnus also saw that the Lightwood’s owned a lot of food, which he was sure they wouldn’t notice was gone. He grabbed as many junk snacks as he could fit under his arms, and, with two cups of tea in his hand, went upstairs to find Alec. 

Alec, was laying on the floor in the middle of his bedroom when Magnus arrived. He didn’t even turn his head to look at Magnus when he walked in. He just continued staring up at the ceiling, somehow looking both deep in thought and emotionless at the same time. 

Magnus placed the cups of tea down on the table by Alec’s bed, and then put all of the food down onto the bed. He considered just sitting on the bed and waiting for Alec to say something, but instead he got down on the floor, and laid next to Alec, also staring up at the ceiling. 

Neither said anything for a while, until Alec took a very, _very_ long breath, and then rolled onto his side so he could face Magnus. “Do you think God hates me?”

Magnus chuckled a little. He turned his head to look at Alec. “I think God has nothing to do with this. I think some very nasty person saw us and wanted to use that photo against us. They wanted to see us- _you-_ suffer. And they manage to do it pretty well.”

“Do you…do you think it was Lydia?” Alec asked. Magnus’ head titled a little. 

“What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know,” Alec shrugged. “I was just thinking.”

“It could have been, but I don’t think she’s that spiteful, Alec,” Magnus turned over onto his side to face Alec. “Honestly, I think it was no one we know. Just some…some idiot.”

“Maybe,” Alec let his eyes close, and Magnus looked at him, wishing there was something he could do to make him happy again. It seemed like Alec wouldn’t be happy for a long time, if things were going to be like they had been that morning. 

“This is my fault,” Magnus whispered. Alec opened one eye to look at him. “I shouldn’t have started this.”

“We wouldn’t have been dating if you hadn’t have started this.”

“But you wouldn’t be sad. I don’t want you to be sad.”

Alec smiled at him, and then cupped Magnus’ jaw. “I’ll be okay, Magnus. I still have you. I’ll be okay.”

“Being just okay isn’t good enough,” Magnus moved closer to him, and Alec’s eyes opened wider. “I want you to be happy.”

Alec smiled again, and then kissed Magnus quickly. “Let’s get up.”

“You were the one down here in the first place.” Magnus frowned. As he stood up, and helped Alec up too, he realised that Alec had ignored him, and hadn’t said anything about being happy. He didn’t push him to say anything else on the subject, though. He just followed him to the bed, and helped him move the food onto the floor so they could lay down. Magnus curled up against Alec, and Alec wrapped his arms around him. Magnus wondered whether he should be the one hugging Alec, but Alec didn’t seem to be complaining, so he wasn’t going to either. 

“I love you,” Alec whispered, and Magnus smiled a little. Before he could say he loved him too, Alec had already fallen asleep, and was snoring lightly. 

He rolled over to face him, and realised that from crying, Alec had tired himself out. He kissed Alec’s forehead, and then, the realisation hit him like a train. The only other people that had known about something between him and Alec was Camille, Raphael and Simon. They wouldn’t really have gotten anything out of doing it, but Magnus wouldn’t put it past them- well, he wouldn’t have put it past _Camille_ to have done it. 

He squeezed his hand into a fist, and swore, the next time he saw them, he was going to kill them. 


End file.
